VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black) |  | Brand: VholdR
Category: Photography
List Price: $349.99
Buy New: $325.95
You Save: $24.04 (7%)
New (8) from $325.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 2398
Color: black
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Memory Type: SDRAM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7 x 5 x 2
MPN: 1102
Model: 1102
UPC: 793573477392
EAN: 0793573477392
ASIN: B0019Y8AAI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Shoot to share online technology | | • | One touch on and off switch | | • | Laser-activated smart leveling | | • | Rugged and withstands dust, dirt, mud, and snow | | • | Records up to 2 hours of video footage |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Wear it, Shoot it, Share it... Think the world doesn't need more video? Wrong, it needs YOUR video, and VholdR (vee-holder) is the go-anywhere do-anything wearable camcorder that SHOOTS your life in motion. And through VholdR.com, you can SHARE it with an entire world of action life stylists just like you. VholdR mounts to nearly anything, from helmets to handlebars, roll cages to bullhorns. It captures TV quality audio and video to a MicroSD card (1gb card included), and it's abuse proof. No tapes, no cables, no kidding. So get VholdR, and get in the game! Image Capture: It may look like just a lens, but the front of the camera houses at least 3 major elements. Dual lasers activate on demand, sending out referencing beams indicating two pieces of information, where the camera is pointed, and if it is level. The lens itself is a glass eye with a focal length covering the gamut, from arm's length to infinity, which focuses visual information onto a CMOS image capture card at 640x480 resolution. Armored Video Everybody recognizes the sound of cracking plastic, or the feeling of dread as we watch an expensive camera hit the ground and disintegrate into a dozen fragmented pieces. That's not a problem with VholdR. We recognize through years of action sports experience that gear is subjected to abuse, and the harder the sport, the harder the abuse. VholdR is made from brushed aluminum, baked fiberglass and rubb
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Great fun, robust, excellent support, rather pricey November 29, 2008
When considering buying this product, cost in the accessories you might (very well) need, especially as the helmet mount is really a stick-once permanent fixture. The camcorder comes with only a 1GB MicroSD card, but will take up to 2GB. If you want to read directly from this card, which may be more convenient than connecting the camcorder itself, you will need an adaptor to take the smaller card size.
The USB lead is short. I have a powered USB hub on my desktop, so a short lead is ideal for me - a longer one would only get in the way. Your setup may be different - for example, a tower unit on the floor - and the short lead may be an inconvenience. Note that you recharge the camcorder via the USB port so, if you don't have a powered hub, it will be painfully slow. A recharger is available and is another accessory you might want to cost in.
The manual is very good, but how you clip the battery in place could be better explained - you swivel the clip rather than 'slide' it. The manual has a warning that you should not stare directly at the laser pointers, a warning you should heed, and should bear in mind when targeting people, lest you give the term 'red eye' a whole new meaning.
The purpose of the lasers is to orient the lens correctly. When attached to your helmet (or cap, handlebars, belt, whatever) the unit probably won't be level and so your viewers would have to tilt their heads when watching the results. To prevent you getting sued for all those cricked necks, the lasers allow you to align the lens, once the unit is in situ. You can realign every time you power up.
I installed the download on my Vista machine with no problem, except that I couldn't view the videos on other media packages, like Corel, only on the VholdR package itself. I sent a query to VholdR support, on Thanksgiving Day and had a reply the next day. That's worth a star for customer support. The answer was that you need to download a codec called FFDshow, if you don't already have it. This is available free online. That solved the problem.
If you are considering buying this camcorder, you should visit the VholdR website first, to see if you want to be part of the 'community' they are trying to establish. For you, that may be a reason to buy.
[PeterReeve]
Perfect for the Action Sport Enthusiast November 24, 2008
Where do I start? As a snowboarder and biker, I find this camcorder perfect for my endeavors. So many reasons why Im giving this camera 5 stars:
-Small and light camera. Perfect to attach to a helmet.
-Shock regulatory system and shatterproof; the rough and tough of my mountain biking or snowboarding didn't create any disturbances in the recording process.
-You don't have to worry about breaking a memory disk or data disc... because it records straight to the camera's internal memory! The memory can hold up to 100 minutes of recording!
-The USB port makes transferring videos to your computer easy.
-Video quality is great too! The camera's recording ability is 30fps with resolution 640x480 lines. Videos are downloaded into your computer in a TV-quality .mpeg4 (avi) file.
With the holidays coming up, this would make a perfect gift for those with children involved in skateboarding, snowboarding, and other action sports. Its also great for parents who want to capture their child's first moments on the ski slopes or a family's skiing vacation!
 Cool Helmet Cam with some drawbacks. November 20, 2008
I've often thought to myself "Wouldn't it be cool if I had a helmet cam and then I could show people all the cool stuff I see when on a bike ride." Well, looks like I got my wish.
As with any electronic, there are pros and cons. First, this thing is so small, I could've only dreamed of something like this when I was a kid and playing simple video games on Atari. It's very lightweight and that's a good thing if you're going to attach it to your helmet. I wish the handlebar mount came with the package, but that has to be purchased separately. I suspect I will purchase that in the near future.
The video quality is okay. It's not superb and my cheap digital cam gives better video quality, but this is not meant for preserving wedding vows, it's meant for high-flying action shots and a less-than-crisp picture is acceptable for this type filming. I enjoy showing my videos to people. I don't know that they enjoy it, though :)
***The booklet that comes with this thing is critical to success with this cam.*** First, please do all the troubleshooting steps first before attempting to download the newest updates, etc. If I had done that, it would have saved me a lot of time. Why did they include such a SHORT USB cable? It makes it very difficult to attach to my computer tower without it just dangling in mid-air because the cable is only a few inches long. I had a lot of issues with the battery charging, etc. A lot of light indicators didn't perform as expected. For instance, a green light is supposed to come on when fully charged and this never happened for me and still hasn't, although my battery appears fully charged. Sometimes, it's difficult to get this thing turned on or off. Lots of button holding and checking for lights to turn on or off to indicate whether the unit is on or off. This should have been made simpler. Once you conquer those hurdles, it's VERY easy to start and stop recording with a nice, big slide bar and beep-sound indicators.
The only other down side is the wind noise. The booklet mentions this can be resolved by putting a piece of tape over the microphone. At this price point, shouldn't a "mute" button have been offered or some other solution? I really don't like expensive gadgets that require me to play MacGuyver.
All told, this is a really cool gadget that will be a whole lotta fun for daredevils, especially teens. My nephews can't wait to visit and try it out. For seasoned adults that expect more for their money, you may wind up a bit disappointed because in my opinion, this cam still has some design adjustments that need to be made and then relaunched. In particular, it should be easier to turn on and off, since that is a very basic function that has given me much grief. Also, better, working indicators for battery charging.
It's too bad that we didn't have a camera like this when I was younger. November 20, 2008
When I first opened the box of the VholdR Wearable camera I had flashback to the days of my youth: skydiving; amusement park rides; helicopter trips; martial arts, etc. I even thought about what great video memories I could have captured of my own children when they were younger and involved in skateboarding, rollerblading and BMX bike stunts if had attached a camera like this to their helmets. Oh well... that was the past for me, but I can still find many, many uses for a camera like this that does not involve risking life and limb.
I attached my camera to one of those model race cars that I see grown men racing near where I live. Wow! Even they were impressed with the shots. It looks like an action movie, going at break-neck speeds, zooming past other cars. Truly impressive (although the sound was poor).
I am planning on taking it on my next trip to the Amazon. I don't know how many people would enjoy seeing what I see as I trudge through the jungle, but I know that I will love having the record.
This is a very well built camera and although there are cheaper models out there, this is one hella-va unit. I plan on coming up with more things to do with it in the near future.
A decent product with many shortcomings November 19, 2008
VholdR Wearable Camcorder is a great camcorder for anyone who is interested in shooting videos of themselves while doing some outdoor activity - rock climbing, biking, parachuting, etc. It is made of high quality durable materials, so it will probably withstand most major blows, although I have not tried using it under extreme conditions. There are, however, many features that I did not find all that impressive.
*It has a permanent tape attachment. If you decide to mount it onto something else later on down the road, you may have to get another piece of durable double-tape and scrape the old one manually.
*The video quality is not that great. 640X480 is pretty inadequate these days. The video is very grainy, and suffers from a lot of spherical distortion.
*The software that came with the camera is very primitive.
*The sound recording is even worse than the video. On a windy day or at a high speed sound recording is almost useless.
*The camera is pretty heavy for its size. This is particularly noticeable if it is mounted on your helmet. Its weight will tend to tilt your head in a certain direction, and consequently your whole video will end up slanted.
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